


Miraculous Chain of Events (a chain story)

by agrestenoir, Aroundthepen (keithkohgane), demistories, knhknhknh, ladrien, miracujess, miraculousstorytelling, shima_wishes



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chain story, F/M, Manon is slick af, Marinette almost dies of embarrassment, ladybug and chat noir dolls, matchmaker Manon, we like to make the kids suffer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 15:10:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8018806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agrestenoir/pseuds/agrestenoir, https://archiveofourown.org/users/keithkohgane/pseuds/Aroundthepen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/demistories/pseuds/demistories, https://archiveofourown.org/users/knhknhknh/pseuds/knhknhknh, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladrien/pseuds/ladrien, https://archiveofourown.org/users/miracujess/pseuds/miracujess, https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculousstorytelling/pseuds/miraculousstorytelling, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shima_wishes/pseuds/shima_wishes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Welcome to the wild tale where none of the authors know what will happen next!  A chain story is passed around turn by turn with only basic rules of engagement like, not contradicting what anyone else has written.  We have agreed that this will be a happy story, so while conflicts may occur, rest assured nothing too horrible will happen for long.  Come for the fluff, stay for the amazing array of authors!</p><p>Watch the tags for more insight on what may be in store.</p><p>THIS STORY IS NOW ABANDONED</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

My names Marinette, just an ordinary girl with an ordinary life…

  
Okay, so maybe even without being Ladybug that was a stretch, but she really did feel like her life was ordinary before she became Ladybug. Now though she felt like her life was on the run, even if it was full of fun.  

  
Not that any of that matter. No, right now she was antsy for the school day to get over with. She glanced at the clock then back at the board, then down at the blond hair ahead of her. She sighed for a moment, then pulled her eyes away to look at the board and try to give her teacher her full attention.  

  
Still the time seemed to go so slowly. She just wanted to be out of class, because this afternoon was going to be the definition of fun!

  
~~~

Marinette practically leaped out of her seat as soon as the school day ended and bolted through the doors, running down the street, pigtails flying, to get to the place she had been dreaming about all day: Marché St. Pierre, the biggest and best fabric store in all of Paris, in the heart of Montmartre.

  
Gabriel Agreste was hosting a new design contest for young men’s formalwear, and the winning design, as per usual, was to be modeled by none other than Adrien. Marinette had spent the entirety of the previous afternoon sketching out designs, and she couldn’t wait to get to Marché St. Pierre to buy all of the fabric she needed for her fabulous creation.

  
“Marinette, slow down!” peeped Tikki from her purse. “I’m sure that the fabric you’re looking for is going to be available if you get there in fifteen minutes and not ten!”

  
“I just want to get there as soon as I can, Tikki! I have to babysit Manon tonight and the sale is only for this afternoon! If nothing else, I have to get the blue silk for the tie I’m making! It’s going to tie everything together. And no, that pun was not intended.”

  
As soon as she arrived in the store, Marinette lost herself in the sea of fabrics, running her fingers across the luxurious bolts of fabric and imagining what Adrien would look like in suits made from them.

  
_Perfect,_ she thought with a sigh as she found a gorgeous bolt of sky blue silk that suited her exact vision for the tie. Adrien was going to look amazing. 

  
It was almost twilight by the time Marinette finished buying all of the things she needed, and as she happily skipped up the stairs of the Sacre Coeur, bags in tow, her mind was in a fantastical dream world where Adrien was her model and she didn’t even see where she was going, so it was no surprise when she tripped over the young man sitting alone on the stairs, watching the sunset.

  
The soft green eyes she had been fantasizing about all afternoon looked at her with concern underneath a mop of sandy hair, brows quirked with both worry and amusement as he reached out a hand to help her up.

  
“Marinette? Are you okay?” 

  
~~~

A-Adrien?” She pushed herself up on shaky arms, reaching for his outstretched hand, as he pulled her to her feet. “What’re you doing here? I thought you had fencing after school.”

  
The words slipped out unbidden, and Adrien’s eyes widened as a spark of panic flashed through them, bright and fleeting like a shooting star. “Lessons were cancelled, and I-”

  
He turned to gesture behind him but ended up tugging her along with him, hands still clasped from where he’d helped her up, and with burning cheeks, Marinette snatched hers away and tucked it behind her back, thumb digging into the space where her palm still tingled from his warm fingers against her skin.

  
She opened her mouth to apologize, the words catching in her throat, when Adrien suddenly crouched down and fumbled with her shopping bags. After her fall, they were sprawled out across the steps below, fabric spilling out onto the damp pavement from the rainstorm earlier that afternoon, and Adrien was hastily shoving her purchases back into their appropriate homes before they could be damaged further.

  
“You don’t have to,” Marinette tried to say, kneeling beside him to gather her things, but he handed her a bag before she could finish her protest.

  
“Really,” he said and flashed her a soft smile, but his brows were pinched with worry. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder, scanning the meandering passerbys before turning back to her. “I was in your way. It’s the least I can do.”

~~~

“I—” She gave in and picked up the fabric by her knees. “Thank you.”  

  
He shot her a smile that made her heart lurch. She glanced down to the fabric before he could see her blush. This fabric at least was relatively dry, that was a relief. She reached forward to grab a bundle of gray fabric just as Adrien did, her fingers brushing against his. They both froze. Adrien gave her another small smile as she yanked her hand back and scrambled to her feet. 

  
Adrien opened the bag he was holding and looked down into it as Marinette figured out a way to comfortably hold the other bags. She figured it out before but she might never find that point again. 

  
“If anything is damaged, I can replace it,” Adrien said.  

  
Of course he would offer. Add that to the list of reasons why Adrien is perfect and why they are going to get married and have three kids and some sort of pet that she still hadn’t entirely decided on yet. “Thanks, but I think—” She cut herself off as her mind backtracked at breakneck speed. 

  
Kids. 

  
Kid. 

  
_Manon._

  
“Oh my god I totally forgot,” she muttered to herself as she struggled to get her phone out of her pocket. She barely glanced as the time, but she already knew she was running late. “Thanks, but I have to go!” she shouted over her shoulder at Adrien as she broke into a sprint.  

  
She thought he might’ve called out her name after she turned the corner, but she assumed he was just saying goodbye. Until she got home and realized she was one bag and several fabrics short. 

~~~~

  
Manon had already arrived at her house by the time she finally realised, so it was clear that she had zero chance of sprinting back just to retrieve the fabrics from Adrien. And even if she did have time, there was no guarantee that he would still be standing around waiting for her. She internally kicked herself as she approached the front door, where Nadja Chamack was standing outside, holding her little girl’s hand. Late. She was late. Another internal kick.

  
“Oh, Marinette, thank goodness you’re here! I was getting worried. I was about to call your parents to find out where you were!” Said Nadja, without an ounce of venom in her voice. Rather than making Marinette feel better, she found herself feeling all the more awful for letting down such a kindhearted woman.

  
She groaned as she unlocked the door and ushered Manon in, who immediately yelped in joy and barrelled through the house up to Marinette’s room. “I am so, so, SO sorry, Mrs Chamack! I had some important shopping to do-” a little lie couldn’t hurt, could it? “-and I had a bit of an accident on the way home, so I got held up. I hope I haven’t caused you too much trouble!”

  
“No, no, don’t worry,” responded Nadja with a gracious smile. “We’d only been standing outside for a few minutes before you arrived. But now I do have to go, so good luck with her tonight!” Leaning slightly in through the door, she yelled up to her daughter. “Be good for Marinette, Manon!”

  
Manon’s reply came through faintly from above, followed by a series of crashes and bangs and an excited, “GET THEM, CHAT NOIR!” Nadja sighed and shook her head, and then hastily said farewell. When she had finally left, Marinette turned and took a deep breath, sinking back against the door to sit on the floor and mentally prepare herself for the night to come.

  
She was shocked out of her thoughts when a sharp knock caused her to jerk her head up and bang it against the door behind her. Leaping up, she yanked it open and was about to ask Nadja why she was back before realising who was standing before her, holding a single bag to his chest with a sheepish smile on his charming face.

  
“Uh… you forgot this, so I thought… you might want it back?” he asked, halfway between a statement and a question. He seemed nervous, but it only made Marinette think of him as all the more sweet.

  
“A-Adri-”

  
She could barely finish his name before Manon’s small - and, at that moment, slightly irritating - voice interrupted her. “Marinette! Oh, it’s your _boyfriend_!”

  
~~~~ 

  
To say Marinette was mortified would be the biggest understatement in all of Paris. For a moment, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything as her face grew more and more red. Oh, she could never face him again! Surely he would think she was weird and that she’d been spreading rumors about him being her boyfriend, and-

  
And he was laughing. She was almost certain he wasn’t laughing at her, either, but Manon’s words. Because, she reminded herself, Adrien is a nice boy who doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, and he would never laugh over her embarrassment. This, and the fact that he lowered himself to his knees to explain to Manon, gave Marinette enough courage to breath a sigh of relief.

  
“No, I’m not her boyfriend, but I am a boy who is her friend. Understand?” he asked her, smiling a smile that, honestly, left Marinette stunned despite it not even facing her. 

  
Manon pouted a little and crossed her arms. That’s alright, Marinette could deal with a pouting and tantrum-prone Manon. Everything would be fine.

  
“I’m really about sorry- sorry about that. Kids and their wild imaginations, you know? Haha, yeah, um… Thanks for bringing me my bag, I don’t want to hold you up or anything,” she said, trailing off awkwardly. She rocked back and forth on her heels, eyes darting to and from Adrien nervously- and enough that she didn’t see that Manon’s pout melted into a mischievous smile. 

  
His eyes, if i were even possible, softened when he held her bag out. “Really, it’s fine! I mean, fencing was cancelled anyways, so I don’t really have anything else planned for today,” he said, a hint of nervousness coming back. She took her bag back, thrilled she hadn’t lost it for the day. He looked like he was about to say something more, but a falsely sweet voice pierced the minute of silence instead.

  
“You should stay then, and play with us! Marinette won’t mind! I know ‘cause she’s got your pictures all o-” Manon had started, voice being muffled as Marinette picked her up and put a hand over her mouth.

  
She managed to choke out a nervous laugh and said, “No, no, I’m sure he’s got m-more important things to do than-” 

  
“Actually, I would love to hang out! Uh, that is… if you don’t mind?” 

~~~

Marinette nibbled on her bottom lip and shook her head. “No! N-No way, I don’t mind. I mean…o-only if you want to. Manon can be a lot to handle. I-I’d understand if you’d rather just go home.” 

  
But Adrien shrugged and smiled. “Nah, it’ll be fun. I’ve never babysat before. Besides, consider this just another way of me paying you back for knocking over all of your fabric earlier.”

  
Manon’s face brightened up as she danced on the tips of your toes. “So you’ll stay?”

  
Adrien bent down and tapped Manon on the nose, making her giggle in delight. “I’ll stay if you’ll have me.”

  
“Yay!” Manon squealed, grabbing Adrien’s hand in both of hers and dragging him over the threshold. “Marinette’s boyfriend is staying! Marinette’s boyfriend is staying!” 

  
“Manon!” Marinette scolded. But the little girl wasn’t listening, instead making Adrien practically jog to catch up with her as they rushed over to the living room. Manon was bouncing on the couch cushions and talking a mile a minute while Marinette put her bags down and locked the front door behind her. Well, this shouldn’t be too weird, Marinette thought. It was just babysitting. It wasn’t like this necessitated being alone with Adrien or having to hold a conversation for too long. If anything, this just meant she’d get help dealing with Manon, which in all honestly she needed. This should be fine. Totally cool. Deep breaths. She could do this.  

  
Adrien was sitting on the couch next to Manon and laughing at her excitement while Marinette came over to join them. “Alright, Manon,” Marinette announced. “What do you want to do first?”

  
“Ooh! Ooh!” Manon squealed. “Can we build a fort? And, and then I can be the Queen of the Fort.” She pointed to Marinette. “Then you get to be the princess that has to do everything I say.” Then, she pointed to Adrien and smirked deviously. “And you! You can be the prince that has to marry the princess!”

  
~~~

Marinette was sure the floor was going to open up and swallow her as she heard Manon speak. She couldn’t even look at Adrien, but to his credit, he just laughed and stood so he could bow to Manon, “Of course, your majesty.”

  
Manon giggled and Marinette simply melted at the sight of Adrien playing along so kindly with her charge. He almost looked like a real life prince, and Marinette nearly lost herself to a daydream while she observed the sweet interaction. She abruptly noticed the two of them watching her expectantly, and Marinette smiled awkwardly as she curtsied with an invisible dress, “We’ll get right to work, your majesty!”

  
Manon beamed and jumped off the couch, “First, we need pillows and blankets!”

  
Marinette nodded, putting on a serious expression, “I’ll fetch some right away!”

  
She started to race up the stairs to her room, but Manon’s voice stopped her, “Wait! The prince has to come with you and carry them!”

  
“Manon,” Marinette chided, “Adr- I mean, the prince can help you down here. He doesn’t need to carry anything for me.” She glanced over at Adrien, sending him an apologetic look. 

  
Instead, Adrien shook his head, “I’m afraid not, princess.” Marinette’s stomach flipped pleasantly when he called her princess, and she found herself blushing for what must have been the hundredth time that day. “The queen’s orders are final.”

  
Marinette nearly went along with it, still in her crush-induced haze, until reality crashed down around her. Adrien was already walking up to her room, her room, and Marinette paled as panic set in, “No no no no! S-someone has to stay with Man- I mean, with the queen. I’ll be right back, really.”

  
“I’ll come, too!” Manon grinned a bit too innocently, “And we can bring the Ladybug and Cat Noir dolls down so they can be my knights!” Marinette almost choked when Manon happily grabbed Adrien’s and Marinette’s hands and walked them up to the trapdoor leading to Marinette’s room.

  
~~~

Marinette’s life flashed before her eyes as she watched the jolly pair ascend the stairs to her room. With each step they took towards her impending doom, her heart beat in response. As Adrien’s unfairly nice hand reached up to open the trapdoor, Marinette did the one thing she was best at: falling.

  
With a dramatic shriek, she threw her arms up and swooned, collapsing on the wood floor.

  
“Marinette!” A concerned Adrien rushed down the stairs to her side, Manon in hot pursuit. Without any hesitation, he easily scooped her up into his arms — bridal style. Marinette immediately went as stiff as a board, even as she instinctually reached up to clutch at his neck.

  
“A-actually, you know what I’m fine! I’m s-s-super! Tanfastic! I mean, fantastic! I must’ve tripped over a stone or something. Yes, a stone in my home when I wasn’t moving. Perfectly logical. Never been better in my life. So if you could just drop me right here and right now that would be great and —“ she babbled frantically. She ignored the feeling of his lean muscles flexing under her back and knees. She didn’t feel the soft hair at the back of his neck against her fingers. She didn’t smell the scent of him emanating from her close proximity to his neck (she didn’t notice she was close enough to rub it with her nose).

  
Well, at least she tried to, in any case.

  
Adrien walked them over to one of the couches, and with the utmost gentleness, placed her on it. Marinette’s arms fell limply to her sides and she let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding. As he pulled away, the tension drew out of her, and she felt a lot calmer. 

  
Until he put his hand on her cheek.

  
Green eyes, sharp with intensity, locked on hers.

  
“You are a bit warm, and clammy too,” he said, his breath ghosting on her face — and while Marinette wanted the sweet embrace of death.

  
Manon appeared from behind him, and Marinette inwardly cringed as she realised they weren’t alone. “And she’s really red too!” the child proclaimed. “Like a tomato!” 

  
Adrien’s hand flipped over and travelled upwards to her forehead. “Maybe when you fell earlier, you hit your head?” He bit his lip in worry (and Marinette had to fight a squeal). “What if you have a concussion?” 

  
Marinette could do nothing but nod mutely.

  
“New orders from the queen!” Manon, who had been watching the exchange, hollered. “The prince has to tend to the princess!”

  
~~~

There was no denying it now. This was starting to become both the best and worst day of Marinette’s life. She wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing or not that her heart was nearly beating out of her chest as Adrien’s hand reached out to take her own. Good news: Adrien was touching her hand. Bad news: her heart was racing at dangerous speeds with no brakes to stop her fall.

  
“I’m not sick,” she blurted out ever so intelligently.

  
“Don’t worry, Princess,” Adrien said, staying true to his assigned character and rubbing a thumb over the palm of her hand. “I’ll take good care of you.”

  
“Really, Adrien, you don’t have to—”

  
“That’s Prince Adrien to you,” he winked. There was no way she was going to survive this day. At least he hadn’t made it to her bedroom…yet. She needed to keep him out of there at all costs. Her life and her honor were at stake, along with her future full of children and cats and hamsters and—

  
“Maybe the Princess will heal with True Love’s Kiss!” Manon shouted at the top of her lungs.

  
_Speaking of honor…_

  
At this outburst, even Adrien’s mouth fell open in surprise and he quickly let go of Marinette’s hands. They chuckled nervously and looked away from each other, both unsure of how to proceed.

  
“True Love’s Kiss!” Manon demanded from the top of the coffee table.

  
“Manon,” Marinette said, “you can’t just pretend to force a True Love’s Kiss.”

  
“Why not?” she complained. “They do it on TV all the time!”

  
“No, Manon,” Marinette said firmly. She got up from the couch and crossed her arms. This was turning out to be a disaster. And she hadn’t even gotten to enter Gabriel’s design contest yet.

  
_Wait a minute._ She needed to create a piece of formalwear designed to fit Adrien, the model—Adrien, who was right here in front of her, right where she had the resources to get his measurements.

  
But how to get around Manon and her room full of pictures… Now that was the question.

  
~~~~

“T-true Love’s Kiss always happens after the prince and princess go to the ball,” Marinette blurts. 

  
Manon blinks up at her. “Does it?”

  
No. “Yes.”

  
“Definitely,” Adrien nods. He seems to be as eager as she is to skirt around ‘True Love’s Kiss’. He bows and holds his hand out to Manon. “May I have this dance, Your Majesty?” 

  
Manon giggles and he sweeps her up into his arms and begins to twirl them around, humming a terrible rendition of a song from Cinderella. Marinette smiles.

  
“While you two are dancing, I’m going to go get what I need. Okay?” She shoots Adrien a stern look to make sure he understands that Manon is to stay downstairs. 

  
Then she realises who she’s frowning at. Heat licks all the way up her neck and cheeks.

  
Adrien’s cheeks tinge pink with embarrassment too.

  
“Right,” he says. 

  
“Right,” she says. 

  
She sprints up to her room.

  
Adrien’s face beams down at her from almost every inch of space on every wall. Marinette winces. “Why do I do this to myself?”

  
She does her best to take the posters down from the walls without tearing them, stuffing them all in her arms. It’s the most she can do to avoid an accident if Manon changes her mind about staying downstairs.

  
Just as she takes the last one down the hatch to her room smacks open. She squeaks and drops her armful of posters in fright as Manon comes bounding into her room followed by a very flustered Adrien.

  
“Sorry!” he cries “She just bolted, I’m sorry!” 

  
His eyes drop to the posters.

  
Marinette feels her heart leap out of her open window. She does the only thing she can do in that moment.

  
She throws herself onto the posters.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the un-edited incomplete second chapter. There will be NO MORE CHAPTERS after this. The last part was posted on Tumblr back in February.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir!” Manon suddenly declared causing Marinette to stiffen in her awkward position. She barely registered Adrien doing the same as both of them turned their gaze to the small girl. Manon was holding the two dolls Marinette had made, and a sigh of relief escaped her lips.

Marinette stoled a glance at Adrien as he squatted down, looking slightly pale for some reason. “Hey, Manon, can I see one of those dolls.”

Manon looked between the two dolls then held them closer to her body.

Marinette straightened up and crossed her arms. “Manon, you remember the last time you were selfish with those dolls?” Marinette missed the incredulous look Adrien gave her. “Ladybug’s arm ripped off, didn’t it?”

Manon pouted spectacularly, Marinette was trying to learn to be more firm with the girl, she just looked back and waited as the Manon finally relinquished one of the dolls.

Adrien took the Chat Noir doll carefully, like he was afraid he would rip an arm off as well. Marinette really hoped he wouldn’t forever think her work was that low quality. Adrien furrowed his eyebrows and turned the doll over, studying it carefully. There was a distant look in his eyes that Marinette couldn’t place.

“Are you any good at pretending to be Chat Noir?” Manon asked. 

Adrien’s eyes widened and he glanced up at her. “Why do you ask?” 

“Marinette is awful at being Chat. And Ladybug. She’s not very good at acting,” she complained. 

“Hey!” Marinette protested. They both turned to look at her and she suddenly realized she was still laying on a stack of Adrien posters. Shoot. 

“Do you, um, need any help with those?” Adrien asked, motioning to them. 

Manon tilted her head and stared at the posters for a second before glancing around the room. “Hey aren’t those your poste—” 

“Just some old things I was cleaning up before school!” Marinette interrupted quickly. “I’ve got this, we’re all good just… I’ll handle this and you two can have fun with the dolls!” She laughed nervously as Adrien and Manon exchanged a confused look. 

 

i don’t even know what i’m doing

There’s no way I can get out of this, Marinette realized as she laughed, sprawled over the posters. 

Well, okay, she lied to herself.There was real, plausible, normal way out of the situation if she just stopped panicking. 

“I’m just–I’m going to take care of these really quick,” she muttered, willing herself to stop shaking as she crumpled the posters underneath her. Goodbye, Adrien #37. Goodbye, Adrien-wearing-a-Gabriel-hoodie poster. 

She had to remind herself that it was for a good cause. Namely, her dignity. Marinette was positive that the posters would be impossible to carry out of her room if they were still nice and neat.

Marinette made it down to the kitchen safely, but she had to give herself a minute to mourn as she placed the crushed posters in the trash bin. Goodbye, Eiffel-Tower-Adrien. Goodbye, Adrien-staring-into-space poster. Goodbye, Adrien #42, and #5, and #19. 

With the posters out of the way, everything was fine and the rest of the day could not get any worse. 

She should have known that her luck was running out.

When she opened her trap door, she was met with many obnoxious kissing noises from Manon, one pair of squished together Ladybug and Chat Noir dolls, and a very, very brilliantly red Adrien. 

Marinette wanted to scream. 

Instead of screaming, however, she let out a very off-sounding chuckle. “Ha ha, um, what’re… what’re you doing there?” she asked.

Manon didn’t look up from her dolls, but Adrien, who looked like he would do anything to get away at that moment, stood and said, “She’s, uh, doing what, um, she thinks Chat Noir and Ladybug should do?” He sounded like he didn’t disagree with what she was doing, but the way he rubbed his neck and with how red his face was, Marinette decided he was uncomfortable with the situation.

“Manon, maybe you can… share the dolls with Adrien. O-or, I could bring down the other ones, and we can fight with them.” She saw Manon about to complain about the last bit, so she hastily tacked on, “I promise I’ll play more fairly this time.”

“… Fine. But I get to be Ladybug! And he gets to be Chat Noir, so you have to be the bad guys!” Manon handed Chat Noir over to Adrien. Adrien took the doll with hesitance, looking oddly nervous to have it in his hands.

Maybe he doesn’t want it to rip, Marinette thought. He’s so sweet…

“-nette? Uh, Marinette, you ok?” Adrien asked. His voice snapped her out of her thoughts of, well, him.

“O-oh! Yeah, I’m just going to get the dolls, berightback!” As she said that, she rushed back to her room Just as her hand grabbed onto the akuma dolls, she received an alert on her phone.

As testament to how her luck really had run out, it appeared there was now an Akuma to deal with. Great.

Marinette quickly scanned the news alert. This akuma was gigantic. The live footage was showing it tormenting the tourists next to the Louvre, making them march around in circles around the museum like automatons completely devoid of any expression. She wondered if it was another akumatized tour guide. Ugh. Perfect timing. Really just….wonderful. 

She raked her hands through her hair and felt like pulling it out at the roots. She needed to get going. She needed to help Chat Noir who was no doubt already on his way. 

…she needed to really hope Adrien was fine with being left alone with a stranger’s child. 

Marinette was so going to lose her babysitting gig over this. 

She sprinted down the stairs and bursted into the living room. Manon was standing on her toes and staring out the window to try and see the akuma while Adrien looked down gravely at the news alert on his own phone. 

“Adrien,” Marinette said quickly. “I know this is really weird and I promise I’ll make it up to you later, but I, uh….really need to go. My, uh….actually Alya is by the Louvre right now and I have to make sure she’s alright. Would you mind staying here and watching Manon?”

“Ahhhhh,” Adrien hesitated, shooting up from his seat on the floor. “A-Actually, I have to….go….check on Nino! Here’s there for a….project or something, he’s probably really worried what with the attack and everything.”

“Oh that’s fine!” Marinette assured. “I can check on him for you. It’s no trouble.”

Adrien was bouncing on his toes impatiently. “No, no! It’s fine. I can check on him myself. I’ll even go keep an eye out for Alya.”

Marinette frowned. “….I already offered to go check on him for you. It’s fine. I really need to go, Adrien.”

“So do I,” he explained to her. “I’m sorry Marinette, I’m happy to help you babysit, but this is urgent and I need to leave.”

“Okay, well so do I, and I can’t just leave Manon here by herself.”

“Exactly! So I’ll check on Alya for you so you can stay.”

“No, you stay here and I’ll check on Nino for you.”

“No I’ll go!”

“No, I have to go!”

They didn’t realize they’d been shouting at each other until the room suddenly stilled in an awkward silence, leaving Adrien and Marinette to stare at each other uncomfortably. She didn’t mean to yell at him, but there wasn’t any time to waste! She needed to transform into Ladybug as soon as possible, and she didn’t understand why Adrien was being so adamant about checking on Nino himself. Besides, what on Earth could Adrien do in that situation as a civilian? 

Manon broke the heavy atmosphere by walking in between them and tugging on Marinette’s blazer. “Um…I can be good and stay right here if you want.”


End file.
